John Prescott and George Colombier, Co-rapporteurs on Armenia in the PACE, released a statement on Tuesday reading that the Armenian government should immediately implement the reforms suggested by the commission looking into the events of March 1-2. The co-rapporteurs have also sent a letter to the Armenian parliament asking to present the timeline of the reforms till the PACE Monitoring session to take place on March 17 in Paris. “Based on these discussions we will visit Yerevan in spring to approve a concrete roadmap for the implementation of the mentioned reforms,” said the co-rapporteurs.
The responsibility of monitoring the implementation of the reforms recommended by the NA standing committee was assigned on the NA standing committee on state and legal affairs, which is headed by RPA member Davit Harutyunyan. We asked Davit Harutyunyan whether the demand for specific timeframe does not mean that it is a pressure on Armenia. “They want concrete results, i.e. not words but results. Words can’t help you much. That is the reason why they expect concrete work results till March 17,” said Davit Harutyunyan.
In answer to the question of the A1+ news agency why the Armenian government hesitates to implement the reforms which makes the co-rapporteurs to remind them about it Mr. Harutyunyan said, “It is not like here people are expecting from the others to say what to do from there. We have had several meetings with the ad hoc. The first session took place on January 11. Yesterday, before the monitoring session, we discussed what questions to ask to the government because from the institutional point of view the implementation functions are the responsibility of the executive power, but from the political point of view the parliament cannot be alienated from this process. We have asked about 30 questions to the government, we will work hard, will make a timeline, and we will speak of tangible results. The work is in process and it is natural that the monitoring commission has raised this issue. I think they are more interested in knowing how we are going to monitor. They will be more interesting in whether the inner monitoring mechanisms are more effective than the external ones,” said Harutyunyan.
The MP says his faction can do this monitoring till the last day of this convocation of the National Assembly. Reminder: on December 21 of last year Colombier and Prescott published their report on the conclusions of the NA ad hoc looking into the events of Mach 1-2. It was presented at the PACE on January 26. The co-rapporteurs said the opinion that only the opposition is guilty in the social polarization is unilateral. They were also surprised at the fact that there was lack critics toward the government. “It undermines the credibility of the committee’s report,” concluded the co-rapporteurs. This time the co-rapporteurs say that if the recommendations of the PACE and ad hoc are fulfilled with good faith they will let objectively monitor the conditions resulting in the events of March 1-2. Davit Harutyunyan agreed with this observation and said the recommended changes are serious. “Deep reformation of the sectors of justice, police, media, speech freedom and electronic media – if we succeed in making the reforms they are expecting from us, I think we will overcome the reasons resulting in March 1. But it doesn’t mean that it will guarantee everything. Such things are happening even in countries which have a long tradition of democracy,” said Davit Harutyunyan.
In the PACE resolution 1677 of June 2009 the PACE called on to declare amnesty for the people accused as a result of March 1-2, as well as the ones who were searched by the police but would surrender voluntarily. In addition, they expressed hope that these people would be in freedom in the process of their case trials. For example, the chief editor of Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper Nicol Pashinyan is accused in the same thing and he surrendered to the Police. The authorities not only refused to set him free but instead of the 6 years of imprisonment requested by the accusing party they decided to imprison the opposition activist for 7 years. More 15 people are still in prisons. In fact this demand has been strayed and ignored. In their report the co-rapporteurs write that they are expecting explanations concerning the court resolution to imprison Nicol Pashinyan and some other issues resulted from the March 1-2. Davit Harutyunyan thinks this demand is political. “Sometimes you mistake legal demands from political ones. It is a political demand. The legal part is different. The one to make a decision is the court. There is no political issue to agree or disagree with it. It was a political estimation and political question,” says Davit Harutyunyan.
Artsvik Minasyan, ARF representative and member of the ad hoc on March 1, believes the co-rapporteurs’ announcement is a pressure on the Armenian authorities. He says even in this case the authorities are waiting for pressure too. “The problem is that whether our government is ready for reforms. I strongly believe that the parliamentarian majority and the government are not ready because in order to make these reforms they have to be more democratic, adopt the concept of a social state, and increase the level of citizens’ social protection,” said A.Minasyan.
In the end of last year the ARF developed a recommendation to establish a new ad hoc in charge of monitoring, but the NA refused and gave this right to the committee headed by Davit Harutyunyan. The temporary ad hoc recommended to implement two reforms – social and economic reforms. A.Minasyan believes the standing committee on legal and state affairs is not able to carry objective monitoring. Zaruhi Postanjian, member of the Heritage faction and a member of the same committee, says the NA and this committee don’t have the necessary tools to invite incumbent and former officials for questioning them. “For example, I would ask questions to the persons occupying the seat of the president, Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan,” said the MP.